New Jersey governor appoints Romankow as county prosecutor (09/08/02)

New Jersey governor appoints Romankow as county prosecutor

by Bozhena Olshaniwsky

ELIZABETH, N.J. - New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey appointed Theodore J. Romankow to the position of Union County prosecutor. The official swearing-in ceremony took place in a courtroom in Elizabeth, N.J., on July 26. The ceremony was witnessed by more than 250 people.

Following the oath, several speeches and congratulations of well-wishers were made by prominent judges, prosecutors and attorneys. Among those present were members of the Ukrainian American community: the Rev. Bohdan Lukie, who gave the invocation and benediction, Walter Bodnar, Nestor Olesnycky and Bozhena Olshaniwsky.

After the official ceremony in the county courthouse in Elizabeth the guests were invited to the Berkeley Heights Manor, where a sumptuous buffet was served, spirits flowed and spirited conversation abounded. During the festivities, members of Mr. Romankow's family were at his side: his wife, Daria, his daughter, Donna, and sons, Benjamin and David, and their families.

The work of the newly appointed prosecutor will be varied and multi-faceted. He will have 215 employees working directly under him, 21 municipal departments, the Office of Sheriff and the Union County Department of Police with about 2,000 policemen. The main thrust of his work will be to counter terrorism, fight gangsters and arrest drug traffickers.

Prosecutor Romankow was elevated to a position of power and influence. He has had excellent preparation for this position: he worked as an municipal prosecutor of the cities of Rahway and Berkeley Heights, as an assistant deputy public defender in the state of New Jersey, and as an exclusive trial attorney in his multi-faceted private practice.

Mr. Romankow graduated from Seton Hall University and the Rutgers School of Law. He was admitted to the state bar and bar of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in May 1966. Martindale-Hubbell, a national rating firm, gave Mr. Romankow its highest competency rating. He began his trial career as house counsel of Aetna Life and Casualty Co. He represented numerous insurance companies since leaving Aetna and entered private practice. He was appointed by the Superior Court of the State of New Jersey and sat as an arbitrator in negligence matters.

He is also a member of the New Jersey and Union County bar associations; and has been a lecturer on trial practice throughout the state. He served as chairman of the Union County Ethics Committee and has been a member of the Judicial Appointments Committee, which screens and recommends judicial and prosecutorial appointment nominees. He was also a mayor of the Township of Berkeley Heights in the 1980s.

Mr. Romankow was born and lived in New Jersey all his life, in the cities of Newark, Irvington and Berkeley Heights. His parents were first-generation Ukrainian immigrants. He fondly reminisces about his parents and grandparents struggling to make a better life for their children and believing in the opportunity that America offered. He publicly thanked them for instilling in him a belief in God, the importance of family, a sense of community and hard work.

Mr. Romankow rendered pro-bono services to Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine since its inception in 1979. He was always willing and ready to help with legal advice and interpretation of laws. He participated in its projects and special events in Newark, Washington and Israel. In 1986 he traveled to Israel in the matter of defense of John Demjanjuk, then held in Ramla prison there. Together with attorney Orest Rudzik from Toronto he met with members of the Israeli government and urged them not to try Demjanjuk in Israel for crimes against humanity because of fabricated evidence, an absurd lack of logic and jurisdictional problems.

The Demjanjuk case is not yet over and continues to be controversial and troublesome. By attempting to counter the forces aligned against Demjanjuk, Mr. Romankow showed his strong sense of justice and sympathy with the downtrodden and his unflinching stance in the face of unpleasantness and danger. AHRU presented its Human Rights Award to Mr. Romankow dedication to justice and human rights.

In addition, Mr. Romankow was president for the past 15 years of the League of Ukrainian Voters, a political action committee in New Jersey which has been active in public affairs and supports candidates beneficial to American and Ukrainian causes.

Mr. Romankow's new appointment as Union County prosecutor is seen by Ukrainian American leaders as a great honor for the community.

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